Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I survived 5 days in New Orleans without turning into too much of a pig. I was on par with the diet all but Sunday and Monday when I enjoyed Brunch at Commander's Palace (though in all fairness, my entree was an Angus Prime Ribeye with a poached egg), but the Strawberry shortcake with fresh cream and buttermilk biscuit was probably not on my LG menu - but who cares, I was at Commander's!

I also did not lift a single piece of iron during my entire trip - was hard to fit it in between work and awesome dinners with dad - piles of boiled crawfish, broiled and raw oysters, gumbo...the list goes on! How I managed to avoid all fried foods and jambalaya during my stay, I'll never know. I guess I'll just chalk it up to the fresh, in-season crawfish that were everywhere!And, since I did not lift at all while away, I had to do something so I ran on the levy. I ran over the levy. I ran along the levy for miles and miles and I even ran up and down the levy for miles and miles - best workout ever.

As an added bonus, I came home with my dad's stomach bug so, even if I did indulge in one too many plates of red beans and rice, it's all gone by now. TMI? Sorry!

While I'm still far from being ripped, I'm happy with some shoulder development and the fact that my waist seems to be slimming - albeit at an excruciatingly slow pace. Oh, well. I haven't been strict with the diet in a couple of weeks, so it's time to get back to work! My legs are also filling nicely - I will post a pic of them as soon as I can get one in decent light.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I was flipping through the channels a few minutes ago and came upon The Biggest Loser. I've watched some of the show before and know that the person who loses the greatest percentage of bodyWEIGHT is deemed the winner and is destined for fame and glory...well, maybe not fame and glory, but I guess they get some money or cool stuff.

Anyway, as I'm watching this poor woman try to decide whether she'll trade in the $10,000 prize she won for a 1 pound advantage at weigh in, it hit me - they're doing it all wrong! The person who loses the highest percentage of bodyWEIGHT at the end of this show isn't necessarily the fittest person there. The winner could be totally skinny-fat like I was just two months ago. I was still squeezing into a size 4, yet I had no muscle tone at all. I thought, how dumb.

Granted, I was never morbidly obese like many on this show, but let's take me as an example: I lost about 13 lbs or nearly 10 percent of my bodyWEIGHT in two months of IF, high protein/carb cycling diet and lifting heavy before my weight stabilized at 115 lbs where it has been for the past two months. Based on the scale, I've made ZERO progress in two months, yet the mirror doesn't lie. My body is changing tremendously - I'm getting delts for the first time in my life; my biceps have exploded; my chest is more defined and my quads are growing. I'm even getting obliques and lats and my strength continues to increase weekly. My body is undergoing a tremendous transformation as I trade body fat for lean mass yet the scale isn't budging. Does that mean I'm not getting into shape? Hell no.

The more I think about it, the more this show pisses me off. No WONDER people in general don't know what it means to be in shape. If this is the example they're striving for - the greatest bodyWEIGHT lost, then they will always fear the scale.

Based on the current rules of the show, there is absolutely no incentive to build muscle because it'll end up making you heavier than if you just strip off the fat. I guess they can't judge by body fat percentage lost b/c calipers and tape measures aren't as "sexy" as the stupid scale shit they use that makes them look like they're at a damn weigh station.

I wonder if this is the reason so many contestants regain their lost weight after the show? If they're not packing on lean, metabolically active mass, they're going to rebound. Build muscle, eat clean and turn your body into a 24/7 fat-burning furnace. They really ought to rethink this concept.

In the meantime, if you're a fan of the show, keep this in mind: The last man/woman standing may not actually be the fittest. Sorry. *shrugs*

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About Me

Tomboy. Surfer. Gym Rat. I'm on a quest to get lean and mean. Join me as I explore the world of fitness through Intermittent Fasting and low volume, heavy weight training. I'm going to be a lean, mean, training machine...